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Friday, January 14, 2011

A Date

This morning I bought a chart. It's not waterproof so I won't be able to keep it on my deck but it's better than nothing. I also picked up and ate a couple of bars of chocolate, and that's the closest I get to high. Please consider this in your reading, should you be so brave.

Day 51:

The day was bright and the air fresh and warm. There was no wind to speak of and hardly a cloud in the sky. The weather was perfect, better than perfect. It was as though Mother Nature was flirting with me.

“So, when do you get off?” I asked casually.

The sun smiled and the sea blushed extra blue. She was into me, yoww.

In the morning the water was glassy flat and tiny gentle swells caressed the side of myboat. Sea gulls flying overhead squawked sweet nothings at me. Occasionally, I would casually glance at her pretty Corsica. I think she liked it. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the pleasantness of it all.

In the afternoon she blew me a soft breeze from behind so I doodled my boat along the swells of her sea.

We saw a couple of swimmers out enjoying the weather as well. They were the first I had seen since the summer. They didn't last very long in the water.

Shortly after we passed three kayakers going in the opposite direction. I said bonjourno and they said ciao, but didn't seem inclined to chat more. It was just as well as my attentions were devoted to my lady.

In the afternoon she showed me a forest that came right up to the beach only a few feet from the sea. It was amazing and went on for miles, if only I had met a girl that could do that years ago.

Time flew and I reached Marina de Cecina well before I was ready to call it a day.

“I had a wonderful time. Thank you. Just one thing, what's the story with Father Time?”

The sun set.

The nice people at the Lega Navale in Livorno told me that they would be unable to help me find a place for tonight. The great mooring man that I met yesterday asked me where I was going today.

I told him.

“Oh really? I know the place because I went there for a rowing competition once. There's a big rowing club there.”

“Sure, I could call ahead for you.”

In the end I arrived a couple of hours earlier than I said I would but a couple of guys from the boat club were there to meet me with big smiles anyways. I got a room, a hot shower, directions to the supermarket, a place to store my boat, everything a kayaker could ask for.

I had the time, and courage, to practice a few rolls before my shower. I hadn't practiced rolling in a long time, but they came out better than ever, even in zero visibility water.